New Canon 70-200mm Lenses Coming in Early June [CR3]

We’re told that Canon will finally unveil their new 70-200mm lenses with an early June announcement. Yes, that’s plural.

We can 100% confirm that one of the new lenses will be an EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II.

We can also 95% confirm that the second lens will be a EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III. All of the tips we’ve seen point to this lens coming, but we haven’t actually seen the “f/2.8L IS III” in writing.

We do not know pricing or when these new 70-200mm lenses will begin shipping.

Please keep in mind that lens announcement dates can change, even at the last minute.

VIA:  Canon Rumors

Eyes Beyond The Ordinary

We are knee deep into May and June will arrive faster than we can count the days on the calendar.  With that, Keith and I will start shifting our focus to our annual pilgrimage to the Canadian Rockies to lead this year’s workshop.

This image was captured at Lake Louise.  Lake Louise is a special spot for me.  My grandmother had one life-long dream and that was to experience and see the turquoise waters of Lake Louise with her own eyes.  In fact, she kept a postcard on her refrigerator of the beautiful lake for as long as I can remember.  She never made it there.   Whenever I step to the shore, I think of her.  It’s a special place that’s iconic to many people.

Sentiments aside, and photographically speaking, Lake Louise is a hard place to photograph.  The majority of times I’ve been there, the clouds lingering over the glaciers stick close to the ridge, and don’t allow the color and light to creep in.  Also, there is a boardwalk that stretches in front of the Chateau Lake Louise that most tourists capture images from.   While you can make the trek to Lake Agnes and the teahouse, few photographers venture there.  It’s a bit of a lung burner.

On this particular trip (last year), we had an exceptional sunrise for which I was abundantly thankful for.   However, I very much wanted a different composition from what you usually see coming from there.  I decided that I might be able to unleash some creativity if I released the glacier from needing to be in my point of view, and I embraced what everything else around me was saying.    That’s how this image was created.

Photography teaches me many life lessons.  Sometimes we have to let go of something we are expecting, or familiar to us to receive something fresh, new, and unexpected.   This is true as well of your creativity.

I’d love to hear from you.   Do you have an image you can share or a story that reflects this lesson in your own life?

 

Nikon D750 Deal

The Nikon D750 is one of our favorite cameras at Fstoppers for good reason: it’s an excellent all-around full frame camera that will excel in almost any situation you put it in. Here are its specs:

  • 24.3-megapixel sensor
  • EXPEED 4 Image Processor
  • 3.2″ tilting LCD
  • Video: 1080p at 60 fps
  • 51 AF points
  • ISO: 12,800 (expandable to 51,200)
  • Continuous shooting: 6.5 fps
  • Built-in Wi-Fi
  • Time-lapse mode with exposure smoothing
  • Dual SD slots
  • 100 percent coverage viewfinder

Right now, B&H is offering the D750 for $500 off, and you’ll also get a battery grip, extra battery, memory card, and shoulder bag for free. If you’re looking to get into full frame without breaking the bank, this is a great way to do it and get some extra accessories in the process.

 

Credit: Alex Cooke for Fstoppers

How Photography Defined The Great Depression

During the 1930s, America went through one of its greatest challenges: the Great Depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to relieve the dire economic situation with his New Deal programs. To justify the need for those projects, the government employed photographers to document the suffering of those affected and publish the pictures. Their efforts produced some of the most iconic photographs of the Great Depression – and all of American history.

Photos showed ‘the city people what it’s like to live on the farm.’

The Resettlement Administration, later replaced by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), was created as part of the New Deal to build relief camps and offer loans and relocation assistance to farmers impacted by the Depression and the Dust Bowl, which wreaked havoc on the Great Plains. But the programs weren’t cheap and required significant government funding to maintain.

Roy Stryker was hired as the agency’s Photographic Unit. Stryker was tasked with documenting the need for government assistance by taking photographs of rural farmers at work and at home in their small-town communities, of migrants looking for work and of the effects of the Great Depression on everyday life in rural America. “Show the city people what it’s like to live on the farm,” Tugwell reportedly told Stryker.

‘Fleeing a Dust Storm,’ photographed by Arthur Rothstein. (Credit: Farm Security Administration/The Library of Congress)

 

The FSA photographs galvanized Americans into action.

Stryker created a team of “documentary photographers.” They didn’t want to just churn out propaganda photos of bread lines, vacant farmhouses and barefoot children caked with dust. They also wanted to capture the raw emotion behind the drudgery and bring empathy to the suffering of ordinary Americans.

The first photographer Stryker chose for his team was Arthur Rothstein. During his five years with the FSA, his most noteworthy contribution may have been, “Fleeing a Dust Storm,” a (supposedly posed) photo of an Oklahoma homesteader and his two young sons trudging through swirling layers of dust towards a dilapidated shack.

‘Migrant Mother,’ photographed by Dorothea Lange. (Credit: Farm Security Administration/The Library of Congress)

 

Depression-era photo subjects showed as much strength as suffering.

Although the government used FSA photographs to prove its New Deal programs helped impoverished Americans, FSA photographers also sought to portray their subjects as strong, courageous people determined to survive tough times.

The people they photographed were often resilient, prideful and fiercely independent. Ironically, many refused to accept the very government assistance they’d inadvertently become the faces for.

Instead, they used ingenuity and whatever resources they had to remain self-supporting, and considered government welfare a last resort. Some people were reportedly angry and embarrassed when they realized their photographs had been published.

 

Via: History.com

Will Canon Embrace Mirrorless?

A Nikon representative confirmed that their new mirrorless system will be coming by spring of 2019 (video here). We’ll assume this new mirrorless system is going to be full frame, and perhaps an APS-C little brother as well.

So what about Canon?

We know there are various bodies in testing and at various stages of development, though we’re pretty confident that a hard date for an announcement has not been determined as of yet. It’s speculated around the web that both Nikon and Canon will make some kind of announcement for a full frame mirrorless camera at Photokina in September.

If Nikon is saying their new system will be coming some time in early 2019, I don’t think they’ll be doing an official product announcement at Photokina, and it’s more likely we’ll get some kind of  a “development” announcement. I think there’s a high probability Canon does a similar thing at Photokina. I will say however, we’e never been told about a “development announcement” before they happen. People don’t like announcements and then having to wait 6 months to buy the product, we’ve seen that in the past with Canon and it’s not good for anyone.

I don’t think it matters to Canon or Nikon who is first out of the gate with a full frame mirrorless camera. Both companies obviously have a very loyal customer base and both will be going right at Sony. If both companies make comparable products to Sony feature-set wise, they’ll both easily take a large chunk full frame mirrorless marketshare rather quickly. The one caveat to that will be how F and EF mount lenses fit into the picture.

Lots more to come…

 

Originally Posted: Canon Rumors

Photo – A – Day Projects Improve Well-Being, Study Finds

Shooting a photo every day and then sharing it online improves your well-being. That’s what scientists found after studying a group of people who have committed themselves to photo-a-day projects (often referred to as “Project365“).

The findings were just published in a paper titled “The daily digital practice as a form of self-care: Using photography for everyday well-being” in the journal Health. UK scientists Liz Brewster of Lancaster University and Andrew M Cox of the University of Sheffield were behind the study.

The duo selected a sample of subjects with approximate ages ranging from 20 to 60. The participants post a photo every day to services such as Instagram, Flickr, and Blipfoto. Each photographer was monitored for two months, with researchers recording the photos taken, captions written, and interactions had with other photographers in the online communities. After two months, the photographers also gave a phone interview.

 

What the scientists found was that the act of shooting and sharing daily photos improves a person’s well-being through self-care (it’s therapeutic, renewing, and refreshing), community interaction (it provides regular interaction with people who share the same interests), and reminiscence (it provides the ability to look back on one’s life).

Here are some quotes from the study’s participants:

It’s really good to be able to take that five minutes every day to do something slightly creative, which I enjoy doing and I think is good for well-being. It’s positive in that it gives me something to look for.

[My job] was a very highly stressful role … Oh, God. There were some days when I’d almost not stopped to breathe, you know what I mean … And just the thought: oh wait a moment, no, I’ll stop and take a photograph of this insect sitting on my computer or something. Just taking a moment is very salutary I think.

Connections with other people and sharing things, and so being able to put things out there and then get a response back. And it can be some surprising people, as well, it’s almost like having a personal conversation but with a lot of people at once, that sounds a bit odd. I’ve found you can be saying these things and then different people will react back to them. And yeah, it gives a sense of connection, which helps well-being.

If I’m ever feeling down or something it’s nice to be able to scroll back and see good memories. You know, the photos I’ve taken will have a positive memory attached to it even if it’s something as simple as I had a really lovely half an hour for lunch sitting outside the [location] and was feeling really relaxed.

 

The scientists conclude that committing yourself to photo-a-day projects can provide a number of health benefits.

“Photo-a-day is not a simple and uncomplicated practice; rather it is the complex affordances and variance within the practice that relate it to well-being,” the scientists write in the paper. “We conclude that this practice has multifaceted benefits for improving well-being.”

 

 

(via Petapixel, Health via ScienceDaily)

Days Inn Hires “Sun-tern” for $10,000

Your camera roll is probably already full of hundreds of sunset photos you’ve snapped while looking for the perfect pic, so why not get paid for it?

This summer, Days Inn is looking for an aspiring photographer to travel across the United States for one month to take sun-themed photos of the great outdoors — photos that will eventually be featured as art in their hotels.

 

As the new Days Inn “sun-tern,” not only will you get an all-expenses paid trip across the United States for one month this summer, but you’ll also get paid $10,000 after completing the assignment.

Here’s everything you need to know about landing this dream job.

 

The Responsibilities:

Yes, if you love to travel to new places and take hundreds of photos along the way, this “job” is for you. Pretty much all you’ll need to do as the Days Inn sun-tern is travel to cities across the U.S. for one month and capture as many photos of sunsets and sunrises as you possibly can.

To help you find those moments, Days Inn will provide prepaid experiences along the way, including a sunset sail in Miami and sunrise yoga in San Diego, plus opportunities to go zip lining and on hot air balloon rides in between.

Since you’ll be staying at Days Inn hotels throughout the month-long gig, your trip will be determined by where they have hotels, but beyond that, the brand is open to working with the sun-tern to build the ideal itinerary together.

The Perks:

In addition to being paid $10,000 upon completing the assignment, your travel expenses for the one-month trip will be completely covered by Days Inn. Plus, your original photos will be featured on the walls of Days Inn hotel rooms throughout the U.S., as well as on the hotel’s website and social accounts.

 

Who Qualifies:

To qualify for this job, you must be a U.S. resident who is at least 21 years old and has one month free to travel this summer. Other than that, the requirements are pretty flexible. While the ability to take a decent photograph is necessary, you don’t need to have a photography degree to qualify. What’s more important for this position is that you’re open to new experiences and are passionate about travel and enjoy spending time outdoors.

 

Where To Apply: 

To apply for the sun-ternship, visit daysinn.com/suntern between now and May 20 to submit your best original outdoor photograph, along with 100 words on why you’re the best person for the job.

Original Post:  Koko News 5

 

Purchaser of NIK Software Files For Bankruptcy

You read that headline right!  The company, DXO that originally introduced itself to the industry with an alternative camera, and then brought the industry a processing software, DxO PhotoLab, has recently filed bankruptcy.

Although this news might alarm NIK enthusiasts, the company assures that this should have no impact on consumers or their experience.  In fact, they also announced at the same time that in June of 2018 they will release the new version of the Nik Collection with the long awaited bug fixes that have been plaguing us.  In addition, they will be performing updates to ensure compatibility with the most current operating systems.

Nikon Enters The World Of Mirrorless

Well folks, what many of us assumed would eventually happen is now taking place it seems, Nikon is entering the world of mirrorless cameras and none to soon.  With the Sony systems increasing in technology and capabilities, not to mention the Fujifilm announcing it’s industry rocking GFX medium format mirrorless system under $8k, we all knew that Nikon and Canon would have to follow suite.

While many of us are tired of lugging around 60 pounds of gear up hill both ways, the mirrorless systems are becoming more and more popular.

Walking into Keith’s office, informing him about this rumor that is circulating, he pointed out that Nikon does indeed have a mirrorless camera, but frankly it’s not impressive.  Perhaps this blog post should be titled:  Nikon Seriously Enters The World Of Mirrorless.

Rumor has it that this new camera is being developed “at a rapid pace” and will be released in the spring of 2019.  Very likely, media will be able to touch and experience this at the Photokina show in Germany later this year.

Additionally, expectations are that they will announce an entry level full frame mirrorless first, complete with new mount.  There is also speculation that it will have a 30+ megapixel sensor with PDAF.

 

Sources:  Nikon Rumors & Nikon Eye

2018 Epson Pano Awards Now Open

The Epson Pano Awards just opened for entries for this years competition.  Starting in 2009 this competition has grown to be one of the industries most sought after awards.

The total prize pool is worth over $50,000 USD, including $20,000 cash.

Currently at the date of this post (April 30th), early bird entries are being accepted, allowing you to submit 5 images at once and receiving a  20% discount off the total.

Speaking of cost to enter, the fee is $22 USD per image.

There are two categories:  Nature/Landscape and Built Environment/Architecture.  Also, in addition to the two categories are two sets of awards:  Open and Amateur.   Also this year they are hosting the Virtual Reality/360 Awards with a cost of $16. per image.

To enter, click here:  Epson Pano Awards

Last year’s winner for Open Photographer Of The Year was Jesus M. Garcia of Spain.

 

Adobe Raw and Camera Profiles in ACR & Lightroom

In photography and digital imaging, the term “profile” can mean many different things. There are color profiles, display profiles, lens profiles, printer profiles, working profiles, and so on. Within ACR and Lightroom, a camera profile is used to render a photograph, converting it from raw camera information into the colors and tones that we see.

In order to process raw photos, Adobe builds DCP camera profiles (DCP stands for DNG Camera Profiles) for nearly every camera make and model they support. The cameras that they don’t build profiles for but are still supported capture in DNG, which allows for the camera’s manufacturer to build their own DCP which is embedded within the DNG.

DCPs take into consideration the color primaries (based off of the color filter array that is positioned in front of the sensor), the specific sensitivity of the sensor used, and the sensor’s characteristics in different lighting conditions and at different ISO values.

To create a DCP profile, we capture a number of standardized test targets, including a variety of color checkers, under a variety of different lighting conditions and light sources. The goal of this process is to create a standardized, neutral profile of how a particular camera captures the world.

Adobe Standard and Adobe Color

The improvements in Adobe Color helps make the red and orange leaves look both more natural as well as more pleasing.

 

With the DCP profiles, Adobe is able to normalize the results from a wide array of cameras, resulting in a standardized look and representation of images captured by each camera. Adobe Standard adds some subtle tonal and color adjustments to represent the common expected look and feeling of a photograph. The goal of these subtle adjustments is to ensure a good starting point from which one can edit their photos.

The look of Adobe Standard was designed to be a great starting point for photos that enables photographers to get the most of out them while editing, however it was also created nearly ten years ago. Over that time, we’ve learned a lot about what photographers want and have gotten great feedback on how we can make an even better starting point. From all of this feedback, a new default was born: Adobe Color.

Adobe Color was designed to greatly improve the look and rendering of warm tones, improving the transitions between certain color ranges, and slightly increasing the starting contrast of photos. In order to ensure the viability of Adobe Color on the widest range of images, the impact on some images can be very subtle.

One major improvement to Adobe Color, as compared to Adobe Standard, is that the hue of reds has been adjusted slightly to result in more natural looking reds and warm tones. This ensures that photographers don’t need to adjust the hue of red tones (either through the HSL or the Camera Calibration tools) to get a natural looking image–Adobe Color looks more natural right out of the box.

Another major improvement to Adobe Color is the transition from near neutral warm tones to more saturated warm tones. We adjusted how those transitions happen to ensure that the transition, or gradient, is more linear and doesn’t result in transition errors. This means those transitions appear more natural and there are no visible shifts along a warm gradient range.

A third important improvement to Adobe Color is a slight boost to global contrast. We added this slight contrast bump based off of feedback we’ve received from photographers over the course of many years, with the goal again of images looking more natural, more photographic, and requiring fewer adjustments to get to a good starting point when compared to Adobe Standard.

As photography is quite a nuanced art form, and since there are so many photographers that rely on Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom, we not only retained access to Adobe Standard but we also introduced a number of additional Adobe Raw profiles providing choice and control over the initial rendering of images. The first two, Adobe Vivid and Adobe Neutral provide variations on Adobe Color to ensure that photographers can pick their personal preference or adapt the initial rendering to suit the subject.

Adobe Vivid and Adobe Neutral

 

Adobe Vivid increases the amount of contrast and saturation applied across the entire image, while still applying some skin tone color and tonality protections.

 

 

Both Adobe Vivid and Adobe Neutral start with Adobe Standard and add the improvements found in Adobe Color, and provide options that let photographers adapt the initial rendering to their personal taste and/or subject and create a personalized starting point by selecting a increased or decreased level of contrast and saturation in their photographs.

Adobe Neutral provides a starting point with a very low amount of contrast, useful for photos where photographers want the most control over their edits with the least amount of shifts from the neutral rendition created by their camera, or for photographs that have very difficult tonal and color ranges.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Adobe Vivid increases both the contrast and saturation to provide a more punchy starting point.

Adobe Landscape

Adobe Landscape removes skin-tone based color protections and increases the pop of skies and foliage tones.

 

 

Adobe Landscape was created for photographers to apply based off of the subject matter of the photograph, in this case landscapes. As with all Adobe Raw profiles, Adobe Landscape starts with Adobe Standard and includes many of the improvements found in Adobe Color. In addition to those improvements, Adobe Landscape increases the saturation in foliage hues (greens) and sky hues (blues), removes the skin hue and tonality protections (ensuring that objects in a landscape that may happen to share similar hues and tonalities with skin tones actually get the contrast boost found throughout the rest of the hue and tonality ranges), and also slightly boosts the dynamic range of the image processing, enabling a wider range of tonality to be included in the image (increasing the amount of tonal compression applied by the raw processing engine) so that images with a very wide dynamic range can be rendered completely through the Highlight and Shadow sliders.

 

Reposted from Adobe.com.

 

 

16th Annual IPA Photography Awards Competition

Hey gang!  If you’re looking for another photo competition to enter, this might be it.  The International Photography Awards (IPA) has just opened for submissions.  Both professional and amateur photographers are able to submit images and the competition will be divided between professional and amateur levels.

The early bird deadline for submissions is May 31st, 2018 and will receive a 10% discount on fees.  Regular submission deadline is July 31st, 2018.

The prizes will include more than $22,000 in cash and the winners will be published in the IPA Annual Book of Photography. The winners will be awarded a Lucie Trophy, which is presented at the Annual Lucie Awards Gala each year in New York City.

The winning photographers will also be featured in the IPA Best of Show Exhibition. The exhibit will go on tour in New York City, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, Budapest, Barcelona, Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai, Manila and Bangkok.

IPA’s international jury will evaluate entries competing for this year’s awards. It is comprised of gallerists, photo editors, art collectors and other photography luminaries. The jury members will judge the images based on originality, technical excellence and artistic merit.

The entry fees are as follows:

PROFESSIONALS:

Single Image: $35.00 USD
Series (2 to 9 images): $60.00 USD
Each Additional Category: 20% off

NON-PROFESSIONALS:

Single Image: $25.00 USD
Series (2 to 9 images): $50.00 USD
Each Additional Category: 20% off

STUDENTS:

Single Image: $15.00 USD
Series (2 to 9 images): $30.00 USD
Each Additional Category: 20% off

You can enter here:  https://www.photoawards.com/how-to-enter/

What Photographers Can Learn From Walt Disney

It was the 1940’s as the world was in chaos with the first world war.  One father took his daughters to amusement parks to escape the realities of life and have some fun.  While there, he sat on a bench and watched other parents sitting clearly bored while their children played.  He asked himself “What If I created a place where both parents and children can have fun”.  In that one thought, Disneyland and what would become Disney World was born.  So what can photographers learn from Walt Disney that can be applied to our art? A lot.

     1) He looked at something that was, and asked how he could do it better

At the time when Walt took his daughters to amusement parks, they were known for being dirty and unsafe.  In fact, when he approached his wife Lillian about his idea she questioned him.

“When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say,  ‘But why do you want to build an amusement park?  They’re so dirty.’ I told her that was just the point — mine wouldn’t be.”  –Walt Disney

 

How does this apply to photography? 

Look at what others are doing, identify what you like, what you don’t like, and ask yourself how you can do it better.  Use the work of others, new locations, and new techniques as a platform to jump from to create something that excels from where you began.

 

     2) He ignored what was expected of him.

Walt was in the business of animation, not in the business of amusement parks.  Of course as a result he had people who thought he was crazy for taking on such a huge task that was not only unexpected of him, but clearly out of his comfort zone.

“Almost everyone warned us that Disneyland would be a Hollywood spectacular—a spectacular failure. But they were thinking about an amusement park, and we believed in our idea—a family park where parents and children could have fun—together.” –Walt Disney

 

How does this apply to photography? 

Doing what is expected, and what has always been only leads to more of the same.  Ask yourself what would happen if you incorporated elements outside of your genre into your artwork.  Perhaps you can include mixed media, portrait lighting into nature photography, a new post processing technique that captured your interest.  Ignore and push past what people have come to expect of your art, and ask yourself what could happen if you worked from a curious heart.

 

     3) He was confident in his vision

Walt knew in his heart that he was on to something.  He identified a way he could make the world a little brighter, and because he acted on that seedling of a thought, millions of parents and children enjoy “The Most Magical Place On Earth”.   Had he listened to those who doubted, who couldn’t see past what was already being done, we wouldn’t have this magical kingdom.

“There are whole new concepts of things, and we now have the tools to change these concepts into realities. We’re moving forward.” –Walt Disney

 

How does this apply to photography? 

There’s one thing you can be certain of.  You’ll never have the desire to try something different if you don’t allow your imagination to wander, and you’ll never create something different if you don’t allow yourself to explore and play.  If you have a seedling in your imagination of what could be if you tried, take it, hold it close, nurture it, invest in it, and see what happens.  Wander and wonder produces vision.

 

*Inspired by Disney Institute’s blog post:  Leadership Lessons From Walt Disney: Disrupting Industry Stereotypes \

All images used are property of Disney.  

LL Bean’s Lifetime Return Policy Is No More

L.L. Bean’s outdoor gear — including its signature Bean Boots prized by campers is no longer guaranteed for life.

In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.

“Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales.”‘

L.L. Bean says the policy update will affect only a “small percentage” of returns and pledged to keep its mission of selling “high quality products that inspire and enable people to enjoy the outdoors.” The company says if a product is defective, it will “work with our customers to reach a fair solution” even after a year.

The return policy on the site now reads:

“If you are not 100% satisfied with one of our products, you may return it within one year of purchase for a refund. After one year, we will consider any items for return that are defective due to materials or craftsmanship.”

A Business Insider reporter put the policy to the test last year by returning four-year-old shoes with broken stitching. He recounts that the cashier immediately accepted the return and asked for no proof about when he purchased the shoes. “Two days later, the brand-new shoes were waiting on my doorstep,” Business Insider writes.

At the time, an L.L. Bean spokesperson told the site that the return policy was taken advantage of less than might be expected.

“Our guarantee is not a liability, but rather a customer service asset — an unacknowledged agreement between us and the customer, that always puts the customer first and relies on the goodwill of our customers to honor the original intent of the guarantee,” spokesperson Mac McKeever told Business Insider.

The company traces its origins to 1911, when a Maine outdoorsman developed a hunting shoe with leather uppers and rubber bottoms. Its rugged products were designed with hunting and fishing in mind.

In recent years the company has taken steps to appeal to a hipper, less outdoorsy clientele. As Maine Public Radio reported, L.L. Bean has been “looking to really create a new updated fit and style.”

 

Post Credit:  NPR: L.L. Bean Scraps Legendary Lifetime Return Policy